Away
by Zm93
Summary: Shinji ikari gets a new job.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

**PROLOGUE**

"Idiot Shinji!"Asuka Shikinami could only curse while looking around the wasteland which was the former NERV base.

A few days after Shinji Ikari was snatched away by NERV's EVA,the rebel group WILLE along their flagship AAA Wunder assaulted the ruined NERV Headquarters and combed the area.

The NERV Commander and Vice Commander were nowhere to be found and the base seemed abandoned with only some inoperable EVAs lying around.

Asuka stepped out of the NERV base staring at nothing in particular in the crimson colored wasteland.

"Watcha doin' Princess!"Mari chimed in and Asuka was able to restrain from yelling at her and kept looking the other way.

She hoped to find that brat Shinji herself for running off like an idiot and make him hurt at least once.

* * *

Shinji Ikari stood still wearing a yukata surrounded by strange creatures.

The large headed sorceress in blue dress,Yubaba declared

"The contract is done. Your name is mine now!"

With wave of her hand,his name in kanji floats off the page and she cackles out a malicious laugh.

Through it all,Shinji Ikari or what he used to be looks on blankly with his eyes showing no response to what's about to happen to him with his mind being at what was revealed to him back at NERV headquarters.

**A/N: Rebuild of Evangelion x Spirited Away crossover. Set before Chihiro's arrival.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Cleaning,sweeping,cleaning again and sleep. This was his routine now. The human boy in the spirit world serving in the bathhouse. He went by the name of Rei,which literally meant zero and should have been demeaning but he no longer remembered his real name. It also sounded similar to some else's name,perhaps someone important to him but his head hurt and brought bad memories so he stopped thinking about it. How long he had been been here?It didn't matter as he had nowhere to something happened which would change his current status quo.

"Thank you. Good day"

The human boy in pale yellow yukata said as he picked up some items he had been sent for as an errand.

He was often sent by the foreman to the spirit world marketplace and spirits both in and outside the bathhouse stared and whispered whenever he was present but he always ignored them and went about his work.

He carried his bags and walked his way back to the bathhouse when heard something.

**_To be continued..._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After some hesitancy the boy accepted invitation by a man to come home for tea and chat for a while.

This was the first time he saw a human in the spirit world other than himself and was mildly curious,first time he felt that in a while.

He lived in a hut after a short ride on the train and was welcomed by a woman and a young child.

"Tea is ready!"the woman said as she poured some tea into their cups as the boy sat opposite to their hosts while the child,a girl of probably elementary school age played on her own in the other side of the room.

"Thank you"he said politely in a low voice.

The man was noticing him for a while and finally said

"Is that ring around your neck some form of decoration."

This interrupted him while taking a sip and caused him to cough.

"Sorry"

He put the cup down and collected himself and considered how to reveal to his hosts.

He opened and closed his mouth unable to say something.

His hosts sat patiently and let him take his time.

"It's...it's a bomb"

There was silence as he revealed this,fully expecting them to freak out and order him to get out of their home.

He looked up to their faces and was surprised to see them both calm while the child was still playing and humming a song to herself.

"May I have a look?"

The boy balked at the man's suggestion but but didn't refuse so he got up and went to him to take a closer look.

He put his fingers on the device around his neck looking for any distinguishing features.

"Ah!This was our first time we had seen another human in years but I should have introduced myself first. You can call me Katsuragi."

* * *

The boy rode the track back home lost in thought on what he had just learnt.

His mind was on the revelations when he was back at the hut.

_"So,it was my daughter who put this bomb on you blamed you for everything that happened"_

_Dr. Katsuragi,the very person who led the expedition to Antarctica to experiment upon Adam and accidently caused the First Impact wiping out half of humanity and hell for the remaining survivors summed up the situation after he listened to the boy's story._

_"She is right. I was reason the Third Impact happened."_

_He was trembling and about to cry but the older man stopped him._

_"I am the sole person responsible for what happened. If I had never involved myself then..."_

_He stopped and calmed himself before continuing_

_"If anything Misato should have put this bomb on me."_

_He was referring to the collar bomb on the table which he had disarmed and removed._

_The woman reached out and held Katsuragi's hand to comfort him._

_"It's not your fault. You said it yourself this was part of someone else's plan."_

_The boy looked on and picked up on something she said._

_Katsuragi nodded to her and looked at him._

_"It seems that your father,Gendo Ikari knew what was about to happen and left with research record just a day before Adam awakened. I had also heard of rumours of a group called SEELE was behind this expedition for some motives but I ignored them as a conspiracy theory."_

_The boy's mind was going haywire and struggling to understand._

_"B-but...I had been fighting the Angels with the Evangelion to prevent another impact"he tried to be coherent"They all told me humanity would die if I refused."_

_Katsuragi sighed and looked tired but kept going._

_"Looks like we were both used and cast aside after we had served our purpose. Perhaps it was a blessing you found your way to this world before Gendo carried out further plans for you. I'm sure he's not done with you."_

_The boy didn't know how to take this. His father still wants to use him and make him suffer?_

_He looked at the boy's pain face and spoke up._

_"Well,none of that matters now. Any human who enters would cease to exist unless he eats something from this world offered by it's residents."_

_He looked at the woman holding his hand,then at the little girl who was playing with her doll._

_"I,Kana and little Tomie just woke up in this world when First Impact happened. We don't know if we died and were reborn or perhaps we're not even alive since we haven't aged. We consider ourselves like refugees and have been living here peacefully like a family."_

_To him it certainly seemed like they were a real family looking at how they interacted to each other._

_"I may have failed as a husband to my wife and father to Misato but if you keep living in regret you can never move forward and become a better person. Always remember that."_

The train reached his stop and he got off while being careful to avoid running into the fellow spirit passengers.

He was on his back to bathhouse and he remembered another thing Dr Katsuragi mentioned.

_"I assume Rei is the name Yubaba gave when you were given the job. You don't remember your real name and some aspects about your personal life. You must try to remember or you'll be her servant forever."_

He'll act upon his advice and even agreed upon little Tomoe,who called him 'big brother Rei' to come back and play with her.

It was getting dark and he realised he'll have to come up with an excuse for being late to the foreman or deal with more work being put on him.


End file.
